Fritz Joachim Weyl (February 19, 1915 – July 20, 1977) was a mathematician born in Zurich, Switzerland. He contributed to mathematics research and taught at several universities, most notably at

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Early life

Fritz Joachim Weyl was the son of mathematician

Hermann Weyl Hermann Klaus Hugo Weyl (; ; 9 November 1885 – 8 December 1955) was a German mathematician, theoretical physicist, logician and philosopher. Although much of his working life was spent in Zürich, Switzerland, and then Princeton, New Jersey, ...

and the author and translator

Helene Weyl Friederike Bertha Helene Weyl (; 30 March 1893 – June 1948) was a German writer and translator. She was married to the mathematician Hermann Weyl. Life Weyl was born on 30 March 1893 in Ribnitz, Germany. She was the daughter of the Jewish c ...

. Fritz received his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree from

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...

in 1935. At

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, Fritz received a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in 1937 and a Ph.D. in 1939. His Ph.D.

thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

at Princeton was entitled ''Analytic Curves''. Salomon Bochner served as his thesis advisor and oversaw his research while Fritz was studying at Princeton.

Career

Weyl taught at a number of different universities during his life. These include the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

; the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

;

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

; and

. In addition to teaching, Weyl was employed as a research analyst by the U.S. government. He went on to serve as the dean of science and mathematics at

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Weyl served as the president of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) from 1960 to 1961.

Other work

Both Fritz Joachim Weyl and his father Hermann Weyl published mathematical research. In the 1970s,

Constance Reid Constance Bowman Reid (January 3, 1918 – October 14, 2010) was the author of several biographies of mathematicians and popular books about mathematics. She received several awards for mathematical exposition. She was not a mathematician ...

wrote books about

David Hilbert David Hilbert (; ; 23 January 1862 – 14 February 1943) was a German mathematician and philosopher of mathematics and one of the most influential mathematicians of his time. Hilbert discovered and developed a broad range of fundamental idea ...

and

Richard Courant Richard Courant (January 8, 1888 – January 27, 1972) was a German-American mathematician. He is best known by the general public for the book '' What is Mathematics?'', co-written with Herbert Robbins. His research focused on the areas of real ...

, where Hermann Weyl is mentioned many times while Fritz is mentioned only once, on page 381 in the volume about Courant. In 1949, Hermann published a book entitled ''Philosophy of Mathematics and Natural Science''. This work was originally published by Princeton University Press. Fritz and Hermann published a book together called ''Meromorphic Functions and Analytic Curves''. This work is believed to be based on notes from a course given at the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...

during the first term of 1942–1943. While Fritz was working for the U.S. government, he compiled what is known as ''Research in the service of national purpose; proceedings of the Office of Naval Research Vicennial Convocation'', in 1966. This work is available at the National Museum of American History located at the Smithsonian. Also, many researchers have cited Weyl's work when conducting their own. For example, his work is cited as a reference in the publication ''The Philosophical Review''. When Fritz died on July 20, 1977, the mathematics community considered the loss devastating. On October 8, 1977, the board of trustees for the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) issued a memoriam. In part, it read: "...in warm recognition of his enduring vision for both the beauties and the practicalities of applied mathematics...the members and officers of SIAM and SIMS offer their heartfelt tribute".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weyl, Fritz Joachim 20th-century Swiss mathematicians Presidents of Hunter College Presidents of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics 1915 births 1977 deaths Swiss emigrants to the United States 20th-century American academics 20th-century German mathematicians George Washington University faculty Swarthmore College alumni Princeton University alumni